To be sure, fees are one of the most ubiquitous topics in the retirement plan industry today. Googling some variation of “401(k)” and “fees” yields anywhere from 700,000 to over 10 million hits. How to allocate those fees, is not as common, but it is an important issue. There is no ERISA statute governing how
Read MorePLANSPONSOR Magazine publishes a much anticipated industry survey each year listing the top retirement plan recordkeepers in a number of different categories. This year, Northwest Plan Services (parent company to CDM Retirement Consultants) was honored to be named the fastest growing national recordkeeper in terms of assets under administration (AUM) with an increase of 59.6% from
Read MoreT. Rowe Price has become the latest target in a lawsuit accusation of self-dealing. A former employee has accused the Maryland based money manager of offering expensive, retail share classes to their 401(k) participant/employees when other, less expensive share classes existed. These higher cost funds caused participants to pay over $27 million more in fees
Read MoreFinancial Wellness is one of the most pervasive topics in the retirement industry today. The reality is that many employees may not be able take full advantage of their retirement plan due to other demands on the paycheck. More broadly, financially stressed workers are not good for business. Recordkeepers and third party service providers have
Read MoreIn their ongoing effort to further serve the financial advisor community, CDM Retirement Consultants and Northwest Plan Services have added to their team of sales professionals. Sean Powell joins CDM and Northwest Plan Services working with advisors and consultants on the East Coast and comes with over 15 years of industry experience. Sean has experience on both sides of the aisle, having worked as both a financial advisor and a retirement plan sale professional.
Read MoreThe 401(k) has come a long way in a short time and continues to head smartly in the right direction.
ERISA and the Code prohibit fiduciary advisers from receiving compensation based on their investment advice unless an exemption applies. In the absence of an exemption, the arrangement would result in a prohibited transaction. The DOL has clarified the standards for whether or not investment recommendations/advice is being given and provide several exemptions that will
Read MoreTarget-date funds have been taking a beating lately, with some of the noise coming from everyone who isn’t TDF and other attacks from those advocating for individual level model portfolios in 401(k) plans. While target-date funds may not be perfect, they offer a great solution for most plan participants who, let’s face it, have little
Read MoreThe 2015 Plan Sponsor Recordkeeping Survey ranks CDM Retirement Consultants as the 12th largest independent, non-advisory defined contribution recordkeeper with $1.9 billion in client assets on our platform. Though there are larger providers, most are mutual fund or insurance companies who sell their own investments. CDM is a non-producing, open architecture recordkeeper and administrator of
Read MoreWhile at a recent 401(k) industry conference, I had the pleasure of attending Gabe Zichermann’s session on gamification. While I am familiar with the concept of gamification, I was intrigued by the direction the session took. Mr. Zichermann was very successful in ensuring his keynote speech was highly relevant to the retirement planning industry and
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